TEGIA´NUM
TEGIA´NUM (Eth.
Tegianensis:
Diano), a municipal town of Lucania, situated in the interior of that country, on the left bank of the river Tanager. Its name is found only in a corrupt form in Pliny, who enumerates the Tergilani among the “populi” in the interior of Lucania (
Plin. Nat. 3.11. s. 15); but the Liber Coloniarum mentions the “Praefectura Tegenensis” among the Praefecturae of Lucania (
Lib. Col. p. 209), and the correct form of the name is preserved by inscriptions. From the same source we learn that it was a town of municipal rank, while the discovery of them in the neighbourhood of
Diano leaves no doubt that that place represents the ancient Tegianum. (Romanelli, vol. i. p. 415; Mommsen,
Inscr. R. N. pp. 18, 19.)
The modern city of
Diano is a considerable place situated on a hill about 4 miles west of
La Sala, and gives the name of
Valle di Diano to the whole of the extensive upland valley which is traversed by the river
Tanagro in the upper part of its course. Some remains of the ancient city are still visible in the plain at the foot of the hill (Romanelli.
l.c.).
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E.H.B]
